Sunday, April 27, 2008

RCMP On Verge Of Major Development In Manitoba Murder Mystery With Saskatchewan Political Connection

"The RCMP have reached a critical stage in their investigation of an eight-year-old murder mystery and will decide whether to “fish or cut bait” by this summer, a Crown attorney told a Winnipeg courtroom Friday.

The suggestion that a development in the case is near came in response to a bid by several local media outlets — including the Free Press — to unseal court documents surrounding the high-profile October 2000 Beverly Rowbotham slaying just north of Winnipeg.

The documents revealed the RCMP immediately identified Rowbotham’s husband, Mark Stobbe, as a suspect in her slaying, yet had been unable to gather enough evidence to file charges. Stobbe has always maintained his innocence.[...]Rowbotham, Stobbe and their children had moved from Regina about five months before the slaying when Stobbe accepted a senior position on the provincial cabinet’s community and economic development committee."Mike McIntyreWinnipeg Free Press